Lift truck accelerator pedals are commonly pivotally mounted on the truck floorboard. Such pedals usually include an accelerator portion for controlling vehicle acceleration and a directional control portion for controlling vehicle forward and reverse direction. The directional control portion is usually mounted on the accelerator portion for relative movement therewith. This arrangement permits the vehicle operator to control vehicular forward and reverse direction as well as acceleration by means of a single foot control. Movement of the directional control portion provides direct contact with an exposed micro-switch mounted on or near the accelerator portion. An example of recent prior art pedals is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 823,767, filed by Roy M. Gedeon, et al, on Aug. 11, 1977. Repeated direct contact with such switches acts as a catalyst to shorten switch wear life. Also, accumulation of debris in the area of the accelerator can cause interference with movement of the pedal or of portions of the pedal. Furthermore, such debris can interfere with the exposed microswitch to such an extent as to prevent direct contact with the directional control portion. Either shortened switch wear life or debris interference promotes the very undesirable condition of loss of directional control for the lift truck.
In view of the above, it would be advantageous to provide a control pedal having extended wear life and avoiding the problem of debris interference with switch actuation which overcomes problems associated with the prior art.